Washington's upper crust

White House pastry chef Bill Yosses is Obama's pie guy

July 23, 2010|By Katherine Skiba, Tribune reporter

White House pastry chef Bill Yosses shows off the gingerbread house he made before Christmas 2009. The replica, made of white chocolate, featured a miniature Bo, the Obama's dog, a miniature White House vegetable garden and a view inside to a replica State Dining Room. (Brian Cassella, Chicago Tribune)

WASHINGTON — Some people have a Zen master. President Barack Obama has a "crust master." That's what he calls Bill Yosses, the White House executive pastry chef.

Such is Yosses' prowess at palate-pleasing pies that Obama handed down an order early in his administration. "The pies are great," he said. "Just don't make them so often."

Obama asked for cherry pie for his birthday last Aug. 4 and Yosses is "pretty sure" he'll want pie again.

The 57-year-old Toledo, Ohio, native was hired in 2006 by former first lady Laura Bush and still bakes — but paces — his pies.

He was in Chicago last month to speak at The French Pastry School graduation and praised the city's restaurant scene. "It's probably one of the top five cities in the world for eating now, one of the most exciting, with Paris, Tokyo, Kyoto (Japan) and New York." He singled out Aliena and L20 as top Windy City spots.

For his crusts, Yosses mixes butter, cream, sugar, salt and a bit of lard and prebakes the bottom crust, covering it first with aluminum foil and ceramic baking beads (or, as a substitute, navy beans).

The recipe is in his new book, "The Perfect Finish: Special Desserts for Every Occasion," which features 84 dessert recipes from the 5,000 he has up his white sleeve. The book is not about the White House — "You're not allowed to write books while you're here," Yosses says — but draws from years at top restaurants in New York and Paris. Still, he had a little dish:

On "White House time": "People say if you're on time here, you're 15 minutes late. Things change quickly and there's no waiting. The only constant is a 7:30 a.m. household staff meeting. We're setting a stage for the president, and whether it's me or the carpenter or the florist or the plumber, it doesn't matter. We're setting a stage that needs to be perfect."

On the holidays: "We had a meeting (Wednesday) and the word 'Christmas' came up. It's a relief to me. The planning should be done early. It's really when the most special decorations and the food and the guest lists come together."

On how Obama makes his wishes known: "He goes through Mrs. Obama. He rarely takes the time to discuss policy, even dessert policy, with me."